Maîtresses du Roi
Listing all official short and long time mistresses of Louis XIV, along with all the ladies he was in a brief affair with, those rumoured to have shared his bed and those he showed a interest in.
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Gabrielle de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise de Thianges
Born in 1633 at Lussac-Les-Châteaux into the illustrious de Rochechouart de Mortemart family, Gabrielle was the older sister of the famous Madame de Montespan and just like her little sister, Gabrielle was celebrated for her great beauty, sharp mind and wit. Gabrielle was the first-born child of Gabriel de Rochechouart de Mortemart and his wife Diane de Grandseigne. Her childhood…
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Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon
A plague at the Hotel du Chaumont in Niort suggests Françoise d’Aubigné, the future Marquise de Maintenon, was born there… but that seems not to be quite true. Her father, Constant Agrippa d’Aubigné lodged in the city of Niort, in its prison to be precise, for allegedly conspiring against Cardinal Richelieu. He led quite the debauched life, murdered his wife along with her…
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Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise de Montespan
Françoise de Rochechouart de Mortemart was born on October 5 in 1640 into the ancient house of House of Rochechouart. Dating back to the days of Charles the Bald, who ruled as King of the Franks from 840 to 877, the House of Rochechouart teamed up with the House of Montemart, a Montemart is first mentioned in 1094, by marriage in 1205. Making them…
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Anne-Madeleine de Conty d’Argencourt
Before Marie Mancini and Louise de La Vallière, Louis XIV, aged tender sixteen, had a fling for a certain Mademoiselle de la Motte-Argencourt. Born in 1637 or 1638 to Pierre de Conty d’Argencourt and Madeleine de Chaumont de Bertichères, Anne-Madeleine de Conty d’Argencourt was around the same age as Louis XIV. She was baptised on September 20 in 1641 and entered the household of Anne d’Autriche later…
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Bonne de Pons, Marquise d’Heudicourt
Bonne de Pons was born between 1641 and 1644 in Poitou to Pons de Pons, Seigneur de Bourg-Charente, and his wife Elisabeth de Puyrigaud. Bonne is the youngest of the couple’s three children, having an older brother, Renaud de Pons, and an older sister, Marie Elisabeth de Pons. Bonne’s family was of old nobility and related to many great names, among them César…
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Louise de La Vallière, Duchesse de La Vallière et de Vaujours
Françoise-Louise de La Baume Le Blanc was born on August 6 in 1644 to Françoise Le Provost and the officer Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc. Her father Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc was a member of the poorer branch of the House of La Baume and Seigneur de la Vallière as well as Govenour of the château d’Amboise.…
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Marie Mancini, Princesse Colonna
Anna Maria Mancini, adopted, like her sisters and cousins, the French version of her name, Marie, as she came to France. Born on August 28, 1639, to the Italian aristocrat and necromancer Lorenzo Mancini and Geronima Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, Marie was the sister of Laure, Olympe, Hortense, Marie Anne and the first love of Louis XIV. Marie spent…
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Claude de Vin des Œillets
Claude de Vin des Œillets, dite Mademoiselle des Œillets, was born in the Provence in 1637, as daughter of Nicholas de Vin and Alix de Faviot, better known by their stage name des Œillets, both being actors and country comedians, leading a nomadic life. This lifestyle full of privations came to an end as Nicolas fell ill and died,…
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Olympe Mancini, Comtesse de Soissons
Born on July 11 in 1638, as Olimpia and third child of Lorenzo Mancini and Geronima Mazzarini, sister of Cardinal de Mazarin, Olimpia adopted the French version of her name, Olympe, as she came to France along with her sister Laura Mancini, her brother Paul and cousin Anne Marie Martinozzi. The first set of Marazin relatives in France, which quickly…
